Bravo, El Neil, for such a simple, realistic vision of personal freedom. And thanks for the reminder.
We do have a habit of getting so focused on what we fear, dread, and hate in this scary world that we tend to forget — or sometimes not even know — what we want — what we would do with our freedom if we had it. (I’m talking about our “political freedom,” of course; we’ve already got the other sort with us.)
I know we’ve been here before, but it’s a place we need to revisit frequently if we’re working for something fulfilling and not merely against something evil.
What do you want and hope for from your freedom?
“I vant to be left alone.”
I want to be left alone by thieves and aggressors, but, if they don’t leave me alone I want to be able to defend myself (and my property) from them without facing unending hoards of their gangmates.
Yes, I want to be free to engage in voluntary associations and cooperative efforts with my neighbors, as well as to be “left alone” by meddlers and fools.
The important thing for me, now, is to consciously and enthusiastically BE a good neighbor and foster those associations and the cooperation that builds a community of good neighbors. We exclude the meddlers as much as possible and do our best to live at peace with all – yet are prepared to defend ourselves at need.
I don’t want to wait for some magical future time of total freedom. I want to build freedom here, now and always. One day at a time.
Kent, I cant help but think of all the imminent domain issues when I read your comment. And what has happened to some of the resistors.
MamaLiberty got every decibel of my thunder-couldn’t have said it better.
“I want to be free to engage in voluntary associations and cooperative efforts with my neighbors, as well as to be “left alone” by meddlers and fools.”
That’s it exactly. To grow things that I can sell to those who want to buy it without ten levels of the state getting involved. To carry my weapons in airports and provide my own security without fear of prosecution from a state who insists they know better, EVEN IF THEY CLEARLY DO. Free men decide for themselves. I, I, I, I!!! No more THEM!!! To start a business without spending days dealing with a bureaucracy who makes us report to them with little regard for the wishes of intended customers and soul crushing disregard for my dreams.
I want a government so small I barely notice they exist. I want them out of my kitchen, bedroom, business and I want their dirty mitts off of my guns and I mean completely off. I want the freedom to keep everything that I produce and create without having to “cut the Federalies in” for doing absolutely nothing I could have done for myself. If the government were so small I never ran into another living person that said they were a government employee I would consider that a good start.
I want to be free of being tracked online.
I want the return of free speech.
I want my hard-working husband to be able to keep what he earns instead of giving most of it to the government.
I want to be free from the bureaucracy and licenses to do business.
I want to be left alone to choose whether to license, or
vaccinate, (or spay) my pet.
I want to be free to defend myself in any way I see fit, when threatened.
I want to be free to travel where I want, when I want, without having to provide details or maintain an official “residence,” if I don’t want one. I want to fly without being harassed and molested.
I want to be left alone to take care of my body and my possessions the way I see fit, and make my own decisions on whether to have insurance or not.
I want to be free to take responsibility for, and accept the consequences of, my actions.
My gulch…
http://www.backwoodshome.com/free/wpaper/56_800.jpg
Freedom is the absence of government.
I don’t mean to imply the absence of social order, only the absence of government. Social order will evolve because of the division of labor.
I think I wanna sell the tee shirts to print it all on. And if I can do it the best, the ink too.
According to an old tale, a monk studying Zen attained enlightenment. His fellows asked him how it felt, after years of study and meditation, to have reached this ultimate state of being.
“As miserable as before,” he replied.
In my vision of freedom, relieved from the grind of “feeding the monkeys” I would have much more leisure time.
Every instant of it and the short span of years I have remaining would be devoted to productive effort. There is so very much to do. Millions of more minds need to be freed through debate and persuasion. Entire realms of philosophical inquiry have to be rediscovered and rescued from generations of abuse suffered at the hands of postmodernists. Science itself needs to be reformed; language returned to its proper place as the integrated and concise medium of rational thought. There are inventions that need inventing, things that need to be torn down and built — and ten thousand things I would need to see made real before I could rest with some sense of fulfillment.
I’d be pretty miserable.
But in the best possible way.